Eau Claire: what the area shows

Eau Claire, WI is a metropolitan area, and its 432 SBA approvals in FY2017 to FY2026 carried $248.7 million in gross dollars. Eau Claire counts as a mid-table area, ranked 185 of 928 by loans. In Eau Claire, WI, every asset class is pooled for Eau Claire. That view of Eau Claire is missing from WI and national tables.

A Eau Claire median loan of $250,000 sits inside a middle half of $88,800 to $747,000. Outside data makes Eau Claire requests look light; at 1.20x, Eau Claire is above the national level. 343 of the Eau Claire loans are 7(a); 89 are 504; Eau Claire borrowers meet 7(a) most. Eau Claire franchise loans reach 10.2%, so brand standards often shape a Eau Claire request there.

Eau Claire: classes, places and lenders

Eau Claire: automotive mechanical repair (13 loans); full-service restaurant (13 loans); hotel and motel (10 loans); limited-service restaurant (10 loans) head the tracked-class list. The 326 loans in no tracked class keep Eau Claire totals from reading as pure property; much Eau Claire borrowing funds operating businesses. Eau Claire's busiest counties are Eau Claire County, WI with 291 and Chippewa County, WI with 141, so a Eau Claire project's boundary matters when Eau Claire borrowers cite area-wide figures. Eau Claire 7(a) record, longest first: CCFBank National Association with 114 loans, $65.7 million; U.S. Bank, National Association with 42 loans, $6.4 million; Security Financial Bank with 34 loans, $10.3 million. Eau Claire 504 list: WBD, Inc. ($80.3 million, 84 loans). Eau Claire lender figures, CCFBank National Association's 114 loans included, are an SBA record of Eau Claire loans held or once held; no Eau Claire lender is judged by them.

Eau Claire goes from 43 loans in FY2017 to 37 in FY2026, ending lower: the peak was 58 in FY2025, and the trough 31 in FY2018. Eau Claire cancellations stand at 9.5%, a floor, for Eau Claire approvals in FY2017 to FY2024; Eau Claire's ceiling is withheld, never zero in Eau Claire. A charge-off floor for Eau Claire would rest on a thin cohort of 432 loans, so Eau Claire withholds it; withheld is not zero. Eau Claire faces a geography limit: Eau Claire, WI uses the July 2023 definition; 432 loans are matched by county, and unplaceable Eau Claire loans are omitted, so Eau Claire counts and rates are floors.

Eau Claire: the study questions

Any Eau Claire study defines its Eau Claire trade area first, since lending in Eau Claire County, WI differs from lending across Eau Claire, WI. If a Eau Claire concept resembles automotive mechanical repair, Eau Claire offers size and lender precedent; other Eau Claire concepts must rest on their own Eau Claire evidence. Eau Claire costs belong on local bids; test Eau Claire debt service coverage for a loan near $250,000, and again near $747,000. Eau Claire appraisals compare within one submarket of Eau Claire, WI, not across averages. Nothing printed for Eau Claire predicts approval; each Eau Claire lender still reviews a study.

SBA loans in the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	432
Gross dollars approved	$248.7 million
Median loan	$250,000
Middle half of loans, from	$88,800
Middle half of loans, to	$747,000
SBA 7(a) loans	343
SBA 504 loans	89
Franchise share of loans	10.2%
Rank among metro and micro areas by loans	185 of 928
Median loan against the national median	1.20x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	9.5%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	withheld
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	withheld

Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.

SBA loans approved in the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	43	$14.3 million
FY2018	31	$10.4 million
FY2019	32	$15.0 million
FY2020	39	$17.4 million
FY2021	46	$39.2 million
FY2022	47	$26.2 million
FY2023	43	$23.1 million
FY2024	56	$34.5 million
FY2025	58	$40.0 million
FY2026	37	$28.5 million

Loans by asset class

Asset class	Loans
Not in any of the 39 asset classes	326
Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck)	13
Full-service restaurant	13
Hotel and motel	10
Limited-service restaurant	10
Child care center	7
Fitness center	6
Coffee shop and snack bar	6
Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries)	5
Dental office	5

Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
WBD, Inc.	84	$80.3 million

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
CCFBank National Association	114	$65.7 million
U.S. Bank, National Association	42	$6.4 million
Security Financial Bank	34	$10.3 million
Nicolet National Bank	21	$8.7 million
Hiawatha National Bank	14	$4.4 million

Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.

Where the loans are, by county

County	Loans
Eau Claire County, WI	291
Chippewa County, WI	141

Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.

Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.

All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.

A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-20740.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Feasibility Study Data for the Eau Claire, WI Metro Area